Diviner (16 page)

“Wisdom?” Yeager asked, wearing a skeptical frown. “What is this wisdom?”

Koren eyed Yeager. Although every dragon and most humans had succumbed to her hypnotic power, a few showed signs of immunity, clearer eyes and impatient shifting of feet.

“Warriors have come from another world to liberate us,” Koren said, “but they cannot do so alone. They will need you to rise up against the tyranny that has oppressed you for a hundred years. Only together will you be able to break the bonds and return to Darksphere, the planet from whence you were taken. And, dragons, I implore you to release —”

“Home planet?” Yeager nodded toward the area where the vision had taken place. “You showed humans living on this planet five hundred years ago, and now you’re saying we came from Darksphere a hundred years ago.

Which is it?”

“Both stories are true. Humans left this world and inhabited Darksphere, then came back as slaves.”

“How? Why?” His questions slung out like spears.

Koren lowered her hood. “I don’t know. Starlight hasn’t given me the details.”

Yeager pointed a finger at her. “I recognize you now. You’re Koren, the girl who joined the dragons. You’re one of them now.”

A new murmur passed through the crowd, seemingly activated by a sea of bobbing heads.

Yeager looked back and nodded with them. “She’s another Zena. You all saw. She was dressed in black then, and Taushin saw through her eyes. He’s probably looking at us right now to see who’ll stand up against him. I say we make a spear and send her back to the north. That will show Taushin that we won’t listen to this foolish talk of rebellion.”

“No!” Madam Orley shoved to the front and grasped Yeager’s arm. “I saw Taushin torture Koren mercilessly. She is forced to obey him.”

Several in the crowd murmured their agreement. One male voice rose above the others. “If she is a Starlighter, we should listen to her. You can see for yourself that she’s not like Zena.”

Koren found the speaker, a teenager near the back. She had met him a couple of times, one of the stone movers. Maybe he would embolden others to join him.

“I’m sure we all believe you,” Yeager said, patting Madam’s shoulder, “but we cannot allow anyone to listen to her. It would mean death.”

“But don’t punish her. She is just a slave like us. There is no need to talk about spears and sending her to the north.”

“That’s all well and good …” Furrowing his brow, he looked at Koren, again shielding his eyes. “If she stays out of sight and takes her heat with her.”

Madam Orley set a hand above her eyes and stepped toward Koren. “Did you hear that? Everyone knows you’re a slave, so no one will try to hurt you. Just go somewhere out of sight. The light you’re shining is just too hot for some of us to take.” She lowered her hand and squinted with her tired, old eyes. “You understand, right?”

“But I’m not a slave.” Koren spread out her arms, opening the front of her cloak. “Look. I’m not wearing black. I can fly, and I am free to go wherever I choose.”

Yeager cocked his head. “What did she say? She’s mumbling.”

“She’s not a slave,” Madam Orley said. “She’s free to go anywhere.”

A man piped up near the front. “No, she said she swears she’ll be back, and she can lie to us whenever she chooses. I heard her.”

Madam Orley shoved the man’s shoulder. “Nonsense. Why would she admit to lying? A deceiver wouldn’t do that. And I have known Koren for a long time. She is not a liar.”

His face turning red, the man growled. “I know what I heard.”

“No!” Koren shouted. “I said I am free to go wherever I choose, because I can fly.”

“Now she is speaking gibberish,” the man said. “She has gone mad.”

Yeager nodded. “Even if she said she’s free, the poor girl is addled. She’s trapped inside that prison of light. She must be roasting in there.”

“Addled?” Madam Orley pointed at the Zodiac. “You saw the story. We all did. Koren is a Starlighter, and you know the prophecy.”

“Quiet!” Yeager barked. “You are not to speak of that prophecy. You know the punishment. You heard what happened to Cassabrie.”

“Coward!” Madam set her hands on her hips, wagging her head as she spoke in singsong.

Starlighter, Starlighter, set us all free.
Break all our shackles, declare jubilee.
Light from above will reflect in each heart,
Burn away chaff, and true freedom impart.

 

Yeager pointed at his chest. “That freedom is in our hearts. We are humans, born to be slaves, and we will be slaves until we die. As long as we’re free within, that’s all that really matters.”

She raised a stiff finger. “I used to believe that nonsense. I used to think I could be satisfied as a slave in Arxad’s home. But I came to my senses. He is as cruel a tyrant as Magnar. No one in chains is really free.”

As the argument between Yeager and Madam Orley continued, it seemed to spread throughout the crowd, creating pockets of verbal combat here and there. Obviously, the people had recovered from their daze. Even the dragons appeared to be more focused than before.

Koren gazed as them, a tear trickling down her cheek. These were her people, her friends. They were so blind! So deaf! Why wouldn’t they listen?

Yeager pointed at Koren. “Well, I know a deceiver when I see one. She conjured that story she showed us. It never happened. Humans cannot enslave dragons. They are too powerful. It’s impossible.”

“Look!” the other man shouted. “She is no longer there. The star is empty. Maybe she was a phantasm, an evil spirit.”

Madam Orley looked up at Exodus. “Ridiculous. I see her plain as day.”

“Stop!” One of the dragons pushed the humans apart with his wings, shaking his head as if casting off a net. “I have heard too much talk of rebellion. Go back to your homes until Taushin gives us leave to emerge. I will deal with this Starlighter.”

Koren leaned forward. It was Hyborn, one of the oldest dragons, the village’s head financier and a slave master who had a reputation for cruelty.

With loud grumbles passing among the humans, the crowd dispersed. Dragons flew in low circles as if shepherding the masses, though some bobbed up and down in flight as they recovered their senses. Tibalt joined the stream of humans. He glanced at Koren, but only for a moment. His job was to blend in as a normal slave, taking Koren’s place as one of Fellina’s house servants. From there, he could go about freely and infiltrate, get a feel for what the others were thinking. Of course, his age might raise a few questions, but his story that he had been locked in the Basilica ever since before the days of Cassabrie could work. At least it might get the slaves to open up to him as they filled him in on the news.

Madam Orley backed away slowly, looking up at Koren. She spoke with her hands, using the signs Koren and Petra had invented to communicate silently.

“I believe you,” her fingers spelled out. “I will try to help you.” Then she turned and hurried down the path toward Arxad’s cave.

When all had departed, Hyborn extended his neck, bringing his head within ten feet of Exodus. “Is it true? Is Taushin seeing through your eyes in order to root out opposition?”

Koren met Hyborn’s gaze. It would be easy to say yes, easy to fool him into thinking she was still on Taushin’s side. With her speaking gifts, he would be quick to believe and quick to leave her alone.

She tightened her hands into fists. Those were the old days and the old ways. She couldn’t use her gifts to hypnotize a dragon and then leave him deceived. Dangerous or not, she had to tell the truth.

“I am no longer under Taushin’s control.” She extended her arms, baring her wrists. “My chains are gone. I have been set free. I will do all in my power to liberate my people.” She softened her voice to a whisper. “And you, Hyborn, can help us. Can’t you see how cruel slavery is? Didn’t you see what Hiram and Bodner did to that poor dragon? Didn’t that display turn your stomach? Doesn’t it make you want to pledge to do everything within your power to end this madness?”

Hyborn spoke in an even tone. “Yes, I saw what those humans did to that poor dragon. Yes, it turned my stomach.” He then switched to a deep growl. “But I pledge only to pay humans back for every demeaning insult, for every jab from that wicked spear, and for every shock from that cursed collar. For you see, I was that dragon.”

“You …” Koren gulped. “You were Hiram’s dragon?”

“He called me Lowbred, but when Magnar set me free, I changed my name to Hyborn. And I was the dragon Hiram flew when he attacked the star. For that deed I am truly ashamed, but since I wore a dragon slave’s collar, I had no choice.”

“No choice? Really?”

“Other than death?” He shook his head. “I had to obey.”

“Death is a better end than obeying evil.” Koren straightened and folded her hands at her waist. “So what will you do, Hyborn? Are you loyal to Taushin or to Starlight?”

“Taushin
is
Starlight. You are the ultimate evidence. He said he would resurrect the star and restore pheterone, and the closer I draw to you, the more I can sense it. Perhaps breathing pheterone-endowed air is why I am not coming under your spell at this moment. Exodus is the source of our new life, and Taushin is the reason. He has brought Starlight back from the dead.”

Koren spread out her arms. “Perhaps the Creator used Taushin as a catalyst, but the end result must be liberation for the humans. You no longer need slaves to mine for the gas. Isn’t that so?”

“We no longer need them, true, and the prophecy said they would die. I will leave the timing of that execution to Taushin.”

“What of Magnar?” Koren asked. “If he set you free in the first place, shouldn’t you consult him?”

Hyborn’s ears bent back. “First, he is not here to consult. Second, when you were wearing Zena’s vestments, you showed us that he departed to places unknown. Some of us think he has gone to raise an army and will return to retake his throne. If he conquers Taushin, what will become of you? You are the symbol of Taushin’s success. Considering how Magnar has treated Starlighters in the past, I cannot believe he will allow you or Exodus to remain. Then, our source of pheterone will again be the mesa mines, and humans will stay in captivity. I am certain you do not want that.”

“Of course not, but most dragons have no intention of setting their slaves free. They want to slaughter them.” Koren leaned closer and stared at him, hoping to draw him into her net. “Even now I can see this evil plan brewing in your mind. Your lust for revenge has lasted through all these years, and the newly enriched atmosphere has heightened your desire. Pheterone is not merely an energizer for you; it is an intoxicant, a lubricant for the violence in your mind. You have murder in your heart, and I can help you purge it.”

Hyborn’s voice sharpened. “It is not murder to terminate one’s own property. It is my right. So say we all.”

“All? What about Arxad? Would he agree with you? Even with his history of aiding humans, does anyone really question his loyalty to the dragon race?”

Hyborn backed away a step. “This is true. We all know Arxad has accompanied Magnar out of loyalty, probably to try to keep Magnar from a rash decision. If Arxad were to return and offer his counsel, I would listen.”

Koren exhaled. Finally! An opening! “If I could show you proof that Arxad wants you to heed my words and distrust Taushin, would that be enough to change your mind?”

Hyborn’s eyes shifted toward the Zodiac. “Perhaps. At least it would be enough for me to investigate further.”

“Then let me see what I can find for you.” Koren lifted her arms, spreading out her cloak. “Starlight, tell me—”

“Not now,” Hyborn said. “I must check on my slaves. Return here tomorrow at dawn, and I will listen. In the meantime, I suggest that you stay well hidden. I think many of the slaves fear the punishment that will result if anyone heeds your words. You represent an unknown danger.”

“I understand.” Koren guided Exodus slowly higher. “I will return at dawn.”

Hyborn bowed his head and shuffled back. “Until then, Starlighter.”

Koren turned Exodus and glided swiftly toward the north, struggling to suppress the heartbreak welling in her soul. Her good news, her messages of freedom, had failed to penetrate. Like seeds on arid ground, they scattered with the wind.

A tear tracked down her cheek. What had happened? Hope lost. Freedom rejected. Fear chosen over courage. Instead of hundreds of slaves rallying together to rise up against their oppressors, most simply shrugged and turned aside. They were satisfied with their station, content with their chains. Slaves all their lives, they couldn’t believe any human ever lived in freedom. How could anyone set them free from bondage to an idea? And with Hyborn being so resilient, how could she persuade the dragons to set the slaves free? Since he was one of the most revered dragons, all the others would listen to him, no matter how well she convinced them during their hypnotic trances.

“Creator!” she called as she drove Exodus forward. “I need wisdom!”

Koren arrived at the river and followed its northward course to the barrier wall. Now high in the air, her light illuminated the flat landscape to the north, far beyond the wall. Untold quantities of water flowed into the dragons’ barricade of stones and mortar, but on the other side, no water emerged, not a drop. Where could it have gone? Underground?

She flew past the wall and over a flat grassy area. This time the wall’s guardians didn’t bother questioning her. They just looked up with slack-jawed stares as she glided by.

Soon she reached the end of the plain, marked by a stair-stepped slope. Water poured out from holes in the slope, forming streams that joined together after several hundred feet. Once merged, the river flowed on, northward, ever northward until it reached the waterfall she and Jason had seen not long ago.

Koren stopped over the restored river and looked back. At the wall, the water struck a barrier, an apparently impassable obstacle. Yet here it flowed on, unhindered by stone-burdened rafts, liberated to invigorate the meadow with its life-giving refreshment.

“It found a new path,” Koren whispered. “It went underground and split up.”